Station Eleven UK release: how to watch post apocalyptic series on Starzplay - plus trailer and reviews

This weekend marked the second anniversary of when the first cases of Covid-19 were first officially recorded here in the UK.

You might well feel like you’ve had enough of global pandemics.

However, if you still consider fictional pandemics to be escapism, then new post apocalyptic HBO drama Station Eleven has just arrived on UK shores and could be for you.

So what exactly is the TV series about, who’s in it - and how can you watch it?

Here’s everything you need to know.

What is Station Eleven about?

Station Eleven is a drama that tells the story of a troupe of Shakespearean actors who have survived a devastating global flu pandemic in the Great Lakes region of North America.

Spanning multiple timelines, including the start of the pandemic and 20 years on from when it wiped out a significant chunk of humanity, the series follows the survivors as they attempt to rebuild and reimagine the world, while preserving the art of the world before.

But trouble is not far away, and the appearance of a mysterious so-called prophet threatens to derail everything the survivors have created.

Who is in the cast of Station Eleven?

The cast is led by rising Hollywood stars Mackenzie Davis and Himesh Patel.

Davis has held key supporting roles in Terminator: Dark Fate (2019) and Tully (2018), while also appearing in Blade Runner 2049 and an episode of Black Mirror.

Patel, meanwhile, played the leading role in Danny Boyle’s Beatles comedy fantasy Yesterday (2019) and has appeared in Tenet (2020) and Don’t Look Up (2021).

He’s perhaps best-known to UK audiences for playing the role of Tamwar Masood in EastEnders between 2007 and 2016.

Series creator, producer and co-writer Patrick Somerville is known for producing and writing Emma Stone and Jonah Hill Netflix series Maniac and HBO’s The Leftovers.

What’s Station Eleven based on?

The TV series is based on a 2014 novel of the same name by Emily St. John Mandel.

It won the Arthur C. Clarke Award for best sci-fi work published in Great Britain.

St. John Mandel has also written The Glass Hotel (2020), a mystery thriller that was chosen by former US president Barack Obama as one of his best reads of 2020.

Is there a trailer for Station Eleven?

When is it on and how can I watch it?

The series was released in the USA on 16 December 2021.

However, you can now watch it here in the UK through the streaming service Starzplay, which is also the home of Outlander and The Great.

Three episodes of the 10-parter are available to watch now, with the rest coming out every Sunday.

So far, the series has been positively received by critics, although it has been described as a slow burn requiring commitment by both The Guardian and The Telegraph.

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